CHICAGO ?" Candy makers have launched a range of new products at this week??s annual National Confectioners Association??s Sweets & Snacks Expo, trying to leverage the category??s 2.5 percent growth in the year ending April 17, Advertising Age reports.

More than 2,000 new offerings have been unveiled at the Expo, a celebratory event for the $26 billion sweets and snacks industry.

Candy is "an affordable indulgence," said Lawrence Graham, president of the association. "We are not recession-proof, but we are recession resistant."

America??s sweet tooth is fickle though, so candy makers continually search for new flavors or combinations that might start the next snacking craze.

Among new products launched by industry leaders:

• Hershey introduced a line extension on its Hershey bar and Kisses brand called Air Delight, a new "aerated" chocolate punctured with tiny holes that give the candies a "light and airy texture."
• Nestle formally launched the Skinny Cow candy line, an extension of the brand??s ice cream and frozen snack offerings.
• Wrigley has expanded its Extra Dessert Delights Gum line with Apple Pie, which is set to hit stores in September.
• Jelly Belly re-released its Bertie Bott??s Every-Flavour Beans line, a tie-in to the final Harry Potter film. The beans come in soap, sausage, dirt, black pepper, grass and rotten egg flavors. "All these flavors taste exactly like they're named," said Jelly Belly spokeswoman Tommi Holt. "It's a very shocking experience."